Louisiana Moves Up To 13th In USTFCCCA South Central Region Poll

[cajun4life]

And people thought decatholete's were crazy.

[sportsfanatic21]

Thanks for all of the info.

Another question. Not being on a track with lanes, is there any "gamesmanship" going on during a race, ie, teammates cutting opponents off to help a teammate? Also, is it illegal to have any contact of any kind?

This is really interesting. So a school can set up a course, at a length they prefer, through whatever terrain they prefer? That's kinda cool. You could definitely create a distinct "home field" advantage by setting things up to the strengths and weaknesses of your team.

Again, I appreciate the responses.

[ulXrunner]

Gamesmanship: As long as you don't impede another runners stride, to the point that they fall, you usually can get away with cutting them off. Teams do tactic plan before races, and have been known at times to plan "boxing in" an opponent to slow em down. Similar to what you would see in a high speed police chase. Runner in front of opponent, runner on side of opponent, other side of opponent is barrier to mark side of course. You dont see it often but you watch enough races you will see it.

Beginning of a race is generally when you see the most contact. Typical issues are spikes to the knees, maybe an elbow or two. Getting right up to someones hip and hitting them in the elbow usually ____es em off. And if you really dont like someone, you could give em a nice rabbit punch to the kidney. All of these tactics were never in my box of tricks (hehe).

There are Rules of Competition just like every other sport. There are rules to set up a course but in general as long as you uphold runners safety you should be good. I have seen some courses with hay bells. Many big schools run courses on golf courses. Texas A&M did, Baylor, to name a few. Golf course have great footing and rolling hills that make for an honest race, and limits injury from loose ground.

[CajunRed]

As a road runner who sometimes trained off-road...cross country is considerably more difficult. And it's not just the hills and ruts. Even the soft, spongy ground absorbs some of your push off...making it more difficult than running on a hard, level road.

[ulXrunner]

As a road runner who sometimes trained off-road...cross country is considerably more difficult. And it's not just the hills and ruts. Even the soft, spongy ground absorbs some of your push off...making it more difficult than running on a hard, level road.

I agree, and you never know how a course has been maintained.

[ulXrunner]

http://www.ustfccca.org/2014/10/feat...ional-rankings

Here is the rankings for those interested.

[barchief]

Wow! a Track/XC thread that went 18 posts!!! That has got to be some kind of record!!!

[sportsfanatic21]

Gamesmanship: As long as you don't impede another runners stride, to the point that they fall, you usually can get away with cutting them off. Teams do tactic plan before races, and have been known at times to plan "boxing in" an opponent to slow em down. Similar to what you would see in a high speed police chase. Runner in front of opponent, runner on side of opponent, other side of opponent is barrier to mark side of course. You dont see it often but you watch enough races you will see it.

Beginning of a race is generally when you see the most contact. Typical issues are spikes to the knees, maybe an elbow or two. Getting right up to someones hip and hitting them in the elbow usually ____es em off. And if you really dont like someone, you could give em a nice rabbit punch to the kidney. All of these tactics were never in my box of tricks (hehe).

There are Rules of Competition just like every other sport. There are rules to set up a course but in general as long as you uphold runners safety you should be good. I have seen some courses with hay bells. Many big schools run courses on golf courses. Texas A&M did, Baylor, to name a few. Golf course have great footing and rolling hills that make for an honest race, and limits injury from loose ground.

That pretty interesting. I appreciate the info. How long do these races usually take to complete? I may have to check one out some time, although I don't see myself keeping up with the action so it'd be basically just watching a group of people run by me once and it'd be done.

It sounds like there's the same kind of element as the short track speed skating races in the Olympics. No world records to set, per se, just doing what you have to do to win the race. And sometimes with the help of a teammate or two.

[barchief]

ok.. the basics.

XC is more of a TEAM sport than an individual sport.. Although you have an individual winner and usually a top 10, 15, or top 20 awards, it is still a team sport.

It is scored by places, in other words, if your top 5 runners finish in 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, and 15th place, you score 37 points. The team with the lowest score wins. So it really doesn't matter if you win by 1 second or 30 seconds, your value to the team is still only 1 point.

[ulXrunner]

Wow! a Track/XC thread that went 18 posts!!! That has got to be some kind of record!!!

I know I'm pumped up haha